A Look at SXSW Interactive 2012

The South by Southwest Interactive Festival drew to a close Tuesday Night, concluding five intense days of panels, product pitches, networking and partying here in Austin. This slide show contains some random shots of what was happening between meetings and panels. Unfortunately, I have no way of letting you smell the Bar-B-Q or hear the music booming everywhere, but I hope these shots will convey a little bit of the flavor of SXSW.

‘South-by’ Time Again

The big SXSW sign blows in the breeze on the outside of the Austin Convention Center. Good to see that again.

It’s All About the Code

Coders from all over the country get together at SXSW to exchange ideas, hash out plans and form partnerships.

Great Food, Bad Lines

The line for the free Bar-B-Q across the street from the Hilton was this long or longer every time I looked over. My mouth watered each time, but I could not spare the time for that line.

Smart People and Their Apps

Nathan Jones is the mastermind behind AgLocal, a new site that lets meat lovers buy meat that’s grown locally. Jones presented his company to a panel of judges in the Accelerator startup competition. AgLocal didn’t end up winning, but got a lot of attention here in Austin.

Samsung Ever Present

The Samsung logo is everywhere these days, and SXSW is no exception. This large display shows tweets about a keynote speech that was going on at the time.

On the Show Floor

The SXSW Interactive exhibit hall is no CES, but it was full of people Tuesday afternoon.

Vinyl Are Us

One vendor on the show floor was pushing a machine that takes your mp3s and cuts them to vinyl.

Big Furry Glomper Thing

The Glomper mascot (named Glomper) made the rounds of the show floor on Tuesday. Glomper released a new app, Glomper Events, that lets your friends share social events in one place.

Music Everywhere, Even Here

Some of the booths in the exhibit hall stretch the definition of “interactive.” This booth featured a non-profit that teaches disadvantaged kids to play rock ’n roll. Another booth had a full rock band banging out its tunes.

The Six Degrees

At the Kin2 booth I learned that Liz Taylor is 28 degrees removed from George H. W. Bush. Based on the “six degrees of separation concept,” the Kin2 site can follow your genealogy back to tell you how you’re related to other people.

The Dogs of South-by

Austin’s 6th street is SXSW’s main drag, and home to my main source of nutrition during South-by week—Best Wurst hotdogs.

SXSW by Night

Austin gets pretty crazy at night, even during the Interactive part of the festival. This is a view from a rooftop bar during one of the many parties thrown here by various tech companies.

Image courtesy of Brian Artka

Dixieland at Midnight

Crossing 6th Street after dinner Monday night I ran right into a marching band playing Dixieland music. A mob of people, many of them dancing, followed the band as they moved down the street.